San Diego's Iraq casualties

Service members with ties to San Diego who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Navy Lt. Thomas Mullen Adams, 27, La Mesa, died March 22, 2003 in a helicopter collision. The Grossmont High grad was the first U.S. Navy casualty of the war in Iraq.

Marine Cpl. Randal Kent Rosacker, 21, San Diego, died March 23, 2003. The son of a Navy veteran, “Randy” Rosacker was a star athlete at Serra High School before joining the military.

Marine Lance Cpl. Jesus Alberto Suarez del Solar, 20, Escondido, died March 27,2003. The Tijuana native and graduate of Escondido’s Valley High was killed when an American bomb accidentally exploded.

Army Pvt. Devon Dimilo Jones, 19, San Diego, died April 4, 2003. Jones, a Lincoln High grad, wanted to become a teacher one day.

Marine Cpl. Erik Hernandez Silva, 22, Chula Vista, died April 4, 2003. Silva, who grew up in Holtville, was the youngest of four children -- three of whom serve or have served in the U.S. military.

Marine Lance Cpl. Jason William Moore, 21, San Marcos, died May 19, 2003. The San Marcos High grad was one of four Camp Pendleton Marines killed when their CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed into a canal.

Army Cpl. Andrew Forest Chris, 25, San Diego, died June 25, 2003. The Alabama native lived in North Park and Linda Vista and worked for Steel Skin Inc. in Poway before enlisting in 2001.

Marine Lance Cpl. Cory R. Geurin, 18, Santee, died July 15, 2003. Geurin, who attended West Hills High School in Santee, signed his enlistment papers two months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd class David J. Moreno, 26, Chula Vista, died July 17, 2003. The Philippines native had attended Serra High and was stationed in the pediatric ward at San Diego Naval Medical Center before his deployment.

Army Staff Sgt. Paul Anthony “Tony” Velazquez, 29, San Diego, died Nov. 2, 2003. The Mira Mesa High grad was an 11-year Army veteran stationed at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

Army Staff Sgt. Stephen Anthony “Tony” Bertolino, 40, El Cajon, died Nov. 29, 2003 when his convoy was hit by enemy fire in Haditha. The father of four graduated in 1982 from Granite Hills High School.

Army Staff Sgt. Richard Alan Burdick, 24, National City, died Dec. 10, 2003 after a roadside bomb exploded. Burdick grew in National City and Chula Vista and was from a four-generation military family.

Army Pfc. James David Parker, 20, San Diego, died Jan. 21, 2004 near Baquba. Parker, who went by his middle name David, was born at the San Diego Naval Hospital and grew up in Fallbrook and Carlsbad.

Army Sgt. Patrick Shannon Tainsh, 33, Oceanside, died Feb. 11, 2004. The El Camino High grad was awarded the Silver Star posthumously for returning fire while mortally wounded after his convoy was attacked.

Army Spc. Eric Ulysses Ramirez, 31, San Diego, died Feb. 12, 2004. Ramirez worked for the Sheriff’s Department in Chula Vista and was serving with a a National Guard unit based in National City.

Marine 1st Lt. Oscar Jimenez, 34, San Diego, died April 11, 2004. The father of three grew up in Logan Heights and attended La Jolla High School.

Marine Maj. Richard John Gannon II, 31, Escondido, died April 18, 2004. The father of four grew up in Valley Center, graduating from Escondido High School and Cornell University

Army Spc. James Lee Beckstrand, 27, Escondido, died April 29, 2004. Known as “Jimmy,” the Escondido High grad had just gotten married in September 2003 and was on his second tour of duty in Iraq.

Army Spc. Ramon Candelario Ojeda, 22, Ramona, died May 1, 2004. Born and raised in Santa Ysabel, Ojeda was on the wrestling team at Ramona High and signed up for the Army at age 17.

Army Sgt. Brud Joseph Cronkrite, 22, Potrero, died May 14, 2004. At Mountain Empire High School in Pine Valley, Cronkrite was a wrestler and a member of Future Farmers of America.

Army Spc. Marcos Omar Nolasco, 34, Paradise Hills, died May 18, 2004. Nolasco was born in Guadalajara, Mexico but moved with his family to San Diego at age five.

Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta, 25, San Diego, died Nov. 15, 2004 after smothering an enemy grenade during house-to-house combat in Fallujah, an act of valor for which he received a posthumous Navy Cross. Born in Mexico, Peralta moved to San Diego as a teenager and graduated from Morse High School in 1997.

Marine Lance Cpl. Mourad Ragimov, 20, Carmel Valley, died Jan. 26, 2005 in a helicopter crash. At 16, the native of Azerbaijan left Torrey Pines High School and told his parents he wanted to join the Marines.

Army Spc. Wade Michael Twyman, 27, Vista, died March 4, 2005. The Army Ranger is the son of former San Marcos Fire Department Division Chief John Twyman.

Army Cpl. Glenn James Watkins, 42, Carlsbad, died April 5, 2005. The guardsman, who listed his hometown as Carlsbad, had previously served in the Navy and Army. He lived with his family in Tacoma, Wash.

Army Staff Sgt. Jorge Luis Peña Romero, 29, Fallbrook, died July 16, 2005. Peña had wanted to be a soldier since childhood and joined the Army months after graduating from Fallbrook High School in 1995.

Army Staff Sgt. Alfredo Barajas Silva, 35, of Calexico died September 15, 2005. The guardsman was born and raised in Chula Vista and graduated from Hilltop High in 1988.

Army Sgt Mike Takeshi Sonoda Jr., 34, Fallbrook, died Sept. 22, 2005. The guardsman was an Oceanside native who graduated from Fallbrook High.

Army Staff Sgt. Paul Christian Neubauer, 40, Oceanside, died Sept. 23, 2005. The Colorado native began his military career as a sailor.

Marine Sgt. Brian Enrique Dunlap, 34, Vista, died Sept. 24, 2005 of injuries from a bomb blast while on patrol. In civilian life, the reservist was a firefighter at Camp Pendleton.

Maj. Michael David Martino, 32, Oceanside died November 2, 2005. The University of California San Diego grad was serving with a Camp Pendleton helicopter squadron his second tour of duty in Iraq.

Army Spc. Matthew John Holley, 21, San Diego, died Nov. 15, 2005. Holley’s body was flown to Lindbergh Field in an airliner’s cargo hold, incensing his parents and spurring a law which ensures that war dead are transported with honor.

Army Sgt. Michael June Idanan, 21, Chula Vista, died Nov. 19, 2005. A native of the Philippines, Idanan lived with his Navy veteran uncle and joined the Army a few months after his cousin, Brian Riley.

Army Sgt. David Lee Herrera, 26, Oceanside, died Jan. 28, 2006. Following in the footsteps of his father and older brother, he enlisted in the Army after graduating from Oceanside High in 1997.

Marine Cpl. Salem Bachar, 20, Chula Vista, died April 13, 2006. The Chula Vista High grad married his fiancee, Kristine, 12 days before his final deployment.

Army Cpl. Jeremiah Soham Santos, 21, San Diego, died June 15, 2006 in Baghdad when a roadside bomb was detonated near his Humvee. Santos was a San Diego native.

Army Sgt. Joseph Walter Perry, 23, Alpine, was killed Oct. 2, 2006 by a sniper in Baghdad. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 inspired the Granite Hills High grad to enlist.

Army Staff Sgt. Richwell Arzadon Doria, 25, San Diego, died Nov. 7, 2006. The Morse High grad moved to San Diego from the Philippines to live with his grandfather when he was 11.

Marine Lance Cpl. Jeromy David West, 20, Chula Vista, died Nov. 25, 2006. West spent much of his childhood in Chula Vista and went through boot camp in San Diego.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher Alan Anderson, 24, San Diego, died December 4, 2006. The Longmont, Colo. resident was born at the Navy hospital in Balboa Park and spent much of his childhood in San Diego County.

Army Spc. Jeffery Dean Bisson, 22, Vista, died Jan. 20, 2007. The Rancho Buena Vista High School graduate was an Eagle Scout who enjoyed rock-climbing and other outdoor pursuits.

Army Capt. Brian S. Freeman, 31, Temecula, died Jan. 20, 2007 during an insurgent attack in Karbala.The reservist was a Torrey Pines High grad.

Army Staff Sgt. Jamie Duggan Wilson, 34, San Diego, died Jan. 22, 2007. Wilson spent much of his youth in foster homes and enlisted in the Army at age 17. He lived in Texas and was assigned to Fort Richardson.

Army Pvt. Clarence Tavares Spencer, 24, San Diego, died Feb. 4, 2007. Tavares joined the Army to stay closer to his family in Texas after serving four years in the Marine Corps in San Diego.

Army Spc. Ronnie Gene Madore Jr., 34, San Diego, died Feb. 14, 2007. The son of a career Marine, Madore was a San Diego native and Mira Mesa High grad.

Army Sgt. Richard Anthony Soukenka, 30, Oceanside, died Feb. 27, 2007. The Escondido native overcame poverty and homelessness as a child and was an outstanding athlete at Oceanside High School.

Army Cpl. Stephen Matthew Kowalczyk, 32, San Diego, died in combat March 14, 2007. Kowalczyk grew up in Albuquerque while his father was serving in the Air Force and had moved to San Diego before he enlisted.

Army Spc. Curtis Robert Spivey, 25, Chula Vista, died April 2, 2007 in San Diego of wounds suffered when an explosive detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad on Sept. 16, 2006.

Army Cpl. Gregory Nolan Millard, 22, San Diego, died May 26, 2007. Nicknamed “Shortie,”even though he stood 6-foot-1 as an adult, Millard grew up in La Jolla, where his family owned a bicycle shop.

Army Cpl. Damon Glenn LeGrand, 27, Lakeside, died June 12, 2007. The San Diego native graduated from Clairemont High School in 1995.

Army Spc. Josiah Wayne Hollopeter, 27, San Diego, died June 14, 2007. The Nebraska native worked in construction locally and listed San Diego as his hometown when he joined the Army.

Army Sgt. Michael Jason Martinez, 24, Chula Vista, died June 28, 2007. The Chula Vista native and Eastlake High grad followed in his father’s footsteps when he joined the Army.

Army Staff Sgt. Joshua Joshua Paul Mattero, 29, San Diego, died July 24, 2007 while working to defuse a bomb. Mattero joined the Army two years after he graduated from Castle Park High School in Chula Vista.

Army Spc. Daniel Fernando Reyes, 24, San Diego, died July 31, 2007. Reyes followed his older brother, Antonio Rodriquez, a Navy Petty Officer from Lemon Grove, into military service.

Army Staff Sgt. Sean Paul Fisher, 29, Santee, died Aug. 14, 2007. Fisher was born in San Diego and grew up in East County, graduating from Granite Hills High School in El Cajon.

Army Staff Sgt. Jason Lee Paton, 25, Poway, died Aug. 22, 2007 with 13 other soldiers Black Hawk helicopter crash in Multaka, Iraq. The Poway High loved surfing and was planning his November wedding.

Army Cpl. Anthony Kamalu Bento, 23, San Diego, died Sept. 24, 2007. Colleen Bento described her husband, a Clairemont High grad, as having a “fun-loving personality and an untamed spirit.”

Marine Cpl. Erik Thomas Garoutte, 22, Santee, died Oct. 19, 2007 at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The Santana High grad was serving in an anti-terror unit.

Army Pfc. Ivan Ernesto Merlo, 19, San Marcos, died Jan. 9, 2008 in combat during an Army offensive targeting insurgents in Samarra. Merlo graduated from San Marcos High School in 2006.

Army Pfc. Tenzin Lobsang Samten, 33, died March 12, 2008. A native of San Diego who grew up in Santee and attended school in Lakeside, Samten was born Joshua Edmund Michael Rodriques and changed his name to reflect his Buddhist beliefs.

Army Sgt. Richard Allen “Ricky” Vaughn, 22, San Diego, died April 7, 2008. He was inspired by the military service of fellow Serra High athlete Randy Rosacker to join the Army after graduation.

Army Spc. Mary Jane Jaenichen, 20, of Temecula, died May 9, 2008. She grew up in Fallbrook and graduated from El Camino High School in Oceanside in 2006.

Army Sgt. Cody Ronald Legg, 23, Escondido, died June 4, 2008. At San Pasqual High he played outfield on the baseball team, and earned a letterman jacket in wrestling.

Army Sgt. Alejandro Antonio Dominguez, 24, San Diego, died June 25, 2008. The Southwest High School grad loved the Army so much that he listed “my tank manual” as his favorite book on his MySpace page.

Army Spc. Omar Mohammed Albrak, 20, San Diego, died May 9, 2009 -- just days shy of his 21st birthday -- in a motor vehicle accident in Baghdad. The Escondido High School graduate of Yemeni descent was working as a translator/aide.

Army Sgt. Christopher Michael Cooper, 28, Oceanside, died Oct. 3, 2009. After spending four years at Camp Pendleton, the former Marine enlisted in the Army after just fifteen months of civilian life.

Army Pfc. Michael Robert Jarrett, 20, d. January 6, 2010. The lanky helicopter mechanic grew up Ramona. “Mike was 6’5”, 160 lbs, lean and had a smile that would brighten a room,” his mother, Brenda Jarrett, told the Ramona Sentinel.

According to information provided by the Department of Defense and Associated Press, the following service members stationed at San Diego bases died in the War in Iraq.